This invention relates to an electrical connecting device. In particular, this invention relates to an electrical connecting device of the type used to provide an electrical connection between electrical contact areas formed on different electrical components.
Modern electronic devices typically comprise a number of electrical components that are electrically connected together and assembled into a casing.
For example, a mobile telephone may comprise a main printed circuit board, a liquid crystal display module, and a number of other electrical components. In the mobile telephone, electrical contact areas formed on the main printed circuit board may be electrically connected to corresponding electrical contact areas formed on a rear surface of the display module. The electrical connections allow the printed circuit board to drive the display module.
A known way of providing the electrical connection between the electrical contact areas of the printed circuit board and the display module is to assemble them so that the contact areas physically touch each other. However, this provides an electrical connection that is susceptible to mechanical shock, and is thus unreliable. Moreover, it is frequently not possible to arrange the printed circuit board and the display module so that the contact areas physically touch each other.
It is also known to use an electrical connecting device to provide the electrical connection between the electrical contact areas of the printed circuit board and the display module. An electrical connecting device of this type is disclosed, for example, in EP 1168510. In the electrical connecting device of EP 1168510, a plurality of elongate metallic connecting elements are molded into a dielectric body. One end of each connecting element is unsupported, so that it may be resiliently biased.
In use, the connecting device of EP 1168510 may be secured to the printed circuit board with the supported (molded in) end of each connecting element being soldered to an electrical contact area of the board. The printed circuit board and the display module may then be assembled together so that the unsupported end of each connecting element is in contact with, and urged against, an electrical contact area of the display module.
The resilient nature of the connecting elements of the connecting device disclosed in EP 1168510 enables the making of a reliable, gas-tight electrical connection. However, this and other known connecting devices have a number of limitations.